The week had plenty of highs and lows. Perhaps the biggest low was something that didn’t take place during a game. The release of the popular and talented Danny Taylor took the spotlight this week. So much so, that Falcons President and GM Bruce Landon made it a feature of his weekly blog.
Taylor wasn’t without a job for long. Released by the Falcons on November 29th, he signed a regular AHL contract with the Abbotsford Heat on December 1st. The only chance the Falcons will have of seeing Taylor and the Heat are in the Calder Cup finals next spring. Let’s just hope this one doesn’t come back to haunt us.
The other major low of the week was the third period Saturday night against the Connecticut Whale. The Falcons had built a 3-1 lead early in the period, but all of a sudden completely lost their focus. A series of penalties led to five unanswered power play goals in a span of just over 13 minutes, leaving both Falcons players and fans wondering what just happened.
A nice high, and a nice way to close out the week took place at The Nest on Sunday. The Falcons put in a full 60 minute effort and were able to hold on and beat a weary Portland Pirate club 2-1. Like the Falcons, the Pirates played three games in three days. Unfortunately for them, their Saturday night game was a 7-1 blowout in Hershey, PA. They didn’t arrive in Springfield until the wee hours on Sunday morning. Maybe the Falcons should thank the schedule maker for that one.
This week, the standings look like this:
AHL NORTHEAST DIVISION STANDINGS (as of 12/5/11):
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | GF | GA |
| Connecticut (NYR) | 23 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 31 | 75 | 68 |
| Adirondack (PHI) | 22 | 13 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 72 | 60 |
| Albany (NJD) | 23 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 60 | 69 |
| Bridgeport (NYI) | 24 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 74 | 78 |
| Springfield (CBJ) | 23 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 68 | 69 |
In addition to the highs and lows, the Falcons really deviated from what had been a well played season so far. This weekend, there was some very well played hockey as well as some Sunday night beer league action mixed in.
, playing in his first games since returning to the Falcons, was the recipient of the Whale’s power play frenzy on Saturday night. After
came out of Sunday’s game with a possible knee injury, York was right back at it, shutting out the Pirates when he needed to the most.
Falcons Individual Stats:
| Player | Pos. | GP | G | A | Pts. | +/- | PIM |
| Martin St. Pierre | C | 21 | 5 | 18 | 23 | +6 | 12 |
| Nick Drazenovic | C | 17 | 5 | 15 | 20 | -1 | 12 |
| Cam Atkinson | RW | 21 | 10 | 6 | 16 | +4 | 14 |
| Alexandre Giroux | LW | 13 | 7 | 6 | 13 | +4 | 14 |
| Dane Byers | LW | 21 | 7 | 6 | 13 | -8 | 63 |
| Ryan Russell | C | 21 | 9 | 2 | 11 | +2 | 9 |
| Wade MacLeod | LW | 22 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 8 |
| Nick Holden | D | 23 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -4 | 12 |
| Ryan Garlock | C | 22 | 1 | 7 | 8 | -3 | 6 |
| Cody Goloubef | D | 21 | 0 | 8 | 8 | -7 | 29 |
| Brett Lebda | D | 11 | 1 | 6 | 7 | +5 | 6 |
| David Savard | D | 15 | 0 | 7 | 7 | +4 | 10 |
| Andrew Joudrey | C | 21 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Brent Regner | D | 22 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 2 |
| Tomas Kubalik | RW | 13 | 3 | 2 | 5 | -2 | 14 |
| Cody Bass X | C | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -1 | 13 |
| Mike Thomas | RW | 17 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -4 | 9 |
| Adam Mair | C | 16 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 37 |
| Matt Calvert | LW | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -4 | 6 |
| Aaron Bogosian | LW | 17 | 2 | 1 | 3 | +1 | 16 |
| Ray Macias X | D | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +3 | 0 |
| John Moore X | D | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 2 |
| Tim Spencer | LW | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 5 |
| Oliver Gabriel X | LW | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -5 | 0 |
| Dalton Prout | D | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 14 |
| Teddy Ruth | D | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Chaz Johnson X | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Anton Blomqvist | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 7 |
| Maksim Mayorov | LW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Allen York | G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Dainton X | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steven Delisle X | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 8 |
| Manny Legace (SPR only) | G | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Taylor X | G | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Manny Legace checks in at 19th in the AHL with a 2.51 GAA and a .913 save percentage.
Transactions This Week:
Nov. 29: Danny Taylor released from his PTO.
Nov. 30: Oliver Gabriel reassigned to the Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Media This Week:
Bruce Landon’s blog (also linked above) speaks to the sometimes cruel world of the business of hockey.
Not much else in the world of Falcons media this week. Here are the two goals from Sunday’s game against Portland. Giroux scored the second (game winner), but watch the pass Martin St. Pierre makes to Rooster for this 18th assist of the season. A beauty!
Injury Report:
Anton Blomqvist remains injured, dating back to the first weekend of the season.
Nick Drazenovic left last Sunday’s game against Albany, and missed all three weekend games.
Cody Goloubef was banged up Saturday night against Connecticut and missed Sunday’s game against Portland.
The Falcons will be hosting “Bowling with the Falcons” on Wednesday night in Springfield. This is an event for ticket package holders and corporate partners.
The Falcons return to the ice next Saturday night when they host the Manchester Monarchs at 7PM. On Sunday, December 11th, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers return to The Nest. Shawn Thornton of the Boston Bruins will be on hand for an autograph session on Sunday afternoon.